Can-heading machine



1927. Feb w. B. SMITH CAN HEADING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1926 Fcb. '15, 1927.

W. B. SMITH CAN READING MACHINE Filed May 14,- 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 i 1 5 a .l

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Z my; I 76v. at tozn w-w I 1,617,505 Feb. 15, 1927' w. B, SMITH can HEADING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1926 j 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

I 1 ll|||||||||||||I \22 aummlfoz attorney/(7 of the canner.

Patented Feb. 15,1927.

UNITED STATES.

TNT orries.

WILLIAM B SMITH, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR v'IO SOUTHERN CAN COM- PANY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

CAN-READING MACHINE.

Application filed May 14, 1926. Serial No. 109,048.

g This invention relates to improvements in canning machinery and particularly to a machine known as a can heading apparatus. In the canning of different commodities it is always desirable that each can should have thereon a marking of some character designating the grade of the contents of the can. For instance,'in the case of canned peas, there are usually in the neighborhood of four grades, depending upon the size of the peas, and one object of the present invention is to provide a can heading machine having a stamping mechanism comprlsing a series of dies for placing different grade markings on cans passing through the machine, these dies being adjustable without removal from the machine, whereby, as the grade of peas being handled in the machine changes, the dies can be quickly adjusted so that the cans will be stamped with the proper indication designating the grade of peas being handled at any particular time. In addition to the grade markings on the dies. said dies may also contain other data such as a marking indicating the name It will also be understood that the present stamping mechanism is adapted for use in the handling of'commodities other than peas, this particular commodity being referred to simply to clearly illustrate the purpose of the invention.

In preferred types of stam ing mechanisms the designations or sym ols are applied to the can by use of male and female (lies and in this connection the present invention contemplates the provision of means .for. adjusting one of a mating pair of dies with respect to the other-dies of that pair, whereby, when the two dies come into stamping engagement with the can they will be in absolute registry with one another.

In these can heading machines the open ended can is carried in a circular path by the transfer wheel before a top is applied to said can. As a result there is a tendency for a portion of the contents of the can to be displaced by the action of centrifugal force before the can top is applied, resulting not only-in a loss of a portion of such contents but also resulting in quite an area of the" apparatus ultimately becoming covered with such contents. I In view of this a further object of the invention is the provision of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a can headmg apparatus illustrating the stamping mechanism and, more or less generally, the devices for feeding the cans to the stamping mechanism and heading mechanism.

Fig.2 is a vertical sectional view'on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 but showing only the die carriers, the other portions at the rear of the machine being omitted.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

c Fig. 5 is an elevational View of the means for preventing splashing out of the can contents before cans are headed.

The canfeeding mechanism is more or less similar to that shown in Letters Patent No. 1,203,295, dated October 31, 1916, the cans 15 being fed from a platform 10 by suitable mechanism to a transfer table 11 where they travel in the usual guideway 12 and are properly spaced apart by the can engaging arms 13 of the can moving mechanism, this mechanism also embodying the rotating arms 14 for initially feeding the cans into the guideway 12. Said cans, indicated in dot and dash lines, are fed along guidewav 12 by arms 13 toa point where they will by the stamping mechanism, after which" they are moved to a point where they are transferred to the pocket'sof that portion ofthe apparatus for actually a plying or rolling the can top on the can l)0( y. Before the cansreach the can topfeeding' mechanism 18 it will be understood that they are filled with a commodity, but are open at their u per ends so that, as they are carried in the circular path by the transfer wheel 17, centrifugal force tends todisplace the contents of the can outwardly from the center of rotation of said table 17, the contents of the can building up, so to speak, against the nism. In order that cans of varying dimen sion may be conveniently handled by the apparatus, shield 19 is preferably carried on posts 20 which are adjustable toward and from the can sup orting surface in the guideway, said posts being slidably secured in sleeves 21 of brackets 22 attached to one of the walls of said guideway. Extending through each of the sleeves 21 is a set screw 23 with which the posts may be clamped in the sleeves in any desired position.

So far as the present invention is concerned, it is deemed unnecessary to show the various driving connections through which power is applied to the platform 10, the can propelling arms 1314, and the transfer wheel 17, as these driving connections may take any of the various forms now in common use. Likewise, it is deemed unnecessary to show the mechanism for feeding the can tops to the can bodies as the latter pass the can feeding mechanism 18. Suffice it to say that power is applied from any suitable source to the various arts, including the bevel gear 24 mounted concentrically with the transfer wheel 17, this gear being used for actuating the can stamping mechanism of the present invention. In its preferred form this can stamping mechanism comprises a shaft 25 journaled in a bearing 26 on the main frame of themachine and held against longitudinal movement in said hearing by a collar 27 secured to the shaft by one or more pins 28. Carried on shaft 25 is a die holder carrying a plurality of dies, the number of dies carried by said holder depending upon the speed at which the cans are'fed past the stamping mechanism by the transfer wheel 17. In the present instance four cans are fed past the stamping mechanism each revolution of the transfer wheel 17 and the shaft 25 is geared to run at double the speed of the transfer wheel 17 whereby two dies located at 'diametrically opposite points on the die holder will alternately be brought to stamping position at the time a can is positioned beneath the stamping mechanism by the wh eel 17. With the rates of .speed of the parts thus proportioned it is possible to provide eight dies on the die carrier,-these 3 will have one grade marking thereon, the

dies 30 will have a second marking thereon. dies 31 will have still another marking and dies 32 will have another different marking. With this arrangement it is possible to use the same die carrier and thedies thereon for modity, it only being necessary that the dies be adjustable about their axes of rotation whereby the desired die w1ll be in can enga'g-j ing or stamping position at the time a can is delivered by wheel 17 to the can stamping position.

.marking four different grades of a com- I Circumferential adjustment'of the die c a r- 4 rier for this purpose may be accomplished in various ways, either by having the carrier adjustable on its shaft or by having the carrier and shaft together adjustable with respect to the gear 33 through whichmotion is transmitted from the gear 24; to said shaft. In fact it is only necessary that the dies and the gear 33 be circumferentially adjustable with respect to' one another. One arrangement which has been found to be comparatively inexpensive and which can be readily installed on can heading machines now in use consists in having the die carrier secured to shaft 25 as by a pin 34 and providing a sliding clutch member 35 keyed to shaft 25 and adapted to be clutched to a sleeve 36 which is loose on the shaft 25 and on which the gear 33 is rigidly attached as by brazing. Accidental displacement of the s eeve 36 is prevented by a cap 37 attached to the end of the shaft by the bolt 38.

Assuming that the dies 29 on the carrier have been in use for stamping cans containing-one grade of a commodity and thatthe grade of such commodity being handled by the machine is about to be changed so that it is necessary to utilize thedies 32, for instance, it is only necessary to disengage the clutch member 35 by moving it against the tension of spring 39 to disengage the interlocking elements 40-41 on the clutch and sleeve 36 respectively, whereupon, the die carrier together with'the shaft 25 may be given a one-eighth revolution to substitute the dies-32 for the dies 29 at the can stamping position.

It is also apparent that this change of the dies to meet the change in the commodity being handled by the machine may be ef-- fected in a very short period of time, much more so than would be the case if the die carrier carried only a single pair of dies so that identical 'dies on the two carriers will register or mate with each other and make a clear 1mpress1on on the can surface. As

shown in Fig. 2 this second die carrier is adapted to enter the space between the can body and the can top at the time said parts are supported in the pockets 16 of'the transfer wheel. 17. This die carrier 42 engages the undersurface of the can top while the cooperating die, or dies, on the die car rier mounted on shaft engage the upper surface of said can top. As shown in Fig. 2 die carrier 42 carrying the dies 43 is mounted on a shaft 44 journaled in suitable bearings 45 on the frame of the machine proper and said shaft has a miter gear 46 thereon which meshes with a similar gear 47 on the shaft 45 whereby the dies 2932 and dies 43 will 'be rotated in unison. It will be understood that the die carrier 42 has two sets of dies corresponding to the two sets of dies 2932 and when the clutch 35 is disengaged for adjusting dies 2932 circumferentially of their axes of rotation, shaft 44 will also be rotated through gears 4647 whereby the dies 43 will be simultaneouslyadjusted' to insure the proper die 43 being positioned under the can top when a change is made in the die engaging the upper surface of said can top. a a

The dies 29-32 may be secured in any suitable fashion to their die carrier, and like wise said die carrier may take various forms but in the present machine said carrier is specially constructed to permit the dies car- .riedvthereby being adjusted with respect to the dies 43 on-the die carrier 42. It sometimes occurs that mating dies of the two sets of dies do not absolutely register thereby making a defective stamping and it is therefore, advantageous to have means for adjusting the dies of one set with respect to those of the other set in order to insure absolute registry between mating dies. In the present instance this is accomplished by havmg the carrier for the dies 2932 formed in two sections, one section 48 preferably cont sisting of a plate having a hub secured to the shaft by the pin 34 and the other section shaft 25 only through the bolts 50 and by different loosening up said bolts it is possible to rotate the section 49 carrying the dies 29--32 to a limited extent on said shaft. In order that adjusting movements of said die pad or section 49 may be accurately made said pad has a bolt 52 jou rnaledtherein, said bolt having a cam head 53 thereon whosecamming surface engages the wall of an opening 54 in the plate sectlon 48 of the die carrier. It will be readily understood that by rotating the bolt '52 the die pad or section 49 can be forced one way or the other with respect to section 48 and around the shaft 25, said shaft remaining stationary as will also the.

die carrier 42 with the result that the dies 2932 can be'adjusted with respect to the dies 43 on said carrier 42 and absolute registry of the several pairs of mating dies absolutely insured. This feature of adjustment of one set of dies with respect to the other set of dies is required only where there are upper and lower die carriers, but it may be possible that instead of using male and female dies for stamping the can tops, the lower die carrier may be dispensed with and suitable indications applied to the can top by the use of suitable printing elements mounted on the die carrier on-shaft 25. Even in a construction such as this, however, there will always be, present the necessity of some convenient arrangement for adjusting the printing elements with'respect to the driving pinion 33 in order to quickly render the machine available for applying ade indications. to the cans atany time t e grade of commodity being handled is changed.

- What I claim is:

1. In a can stamping mechanism, the com: bination of a pair of die carriers, a series of dies on each carrier, means for rotating said die carriers, means for adjusting both of sald carriers about their axes of rotation,

and means for adjusting the dies of one. carrier with respect tot-he 'dies of the other carrier.

2. In a can stamping mechanism, the co'mQ i binationof a pair of rotatable shafts, a die carrier on each shaft,-a series of dies on each of said carriers, and means for adjusting the dies of one carrierwith respect to the dies of the other carrier to "cause mating dies of the two carriers to accurately register with each other. v

3. In a can stamping mechanism, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a die carrier on saidshaft, said carrier being comprised of a section fixed on said shaft and a section adjustable on said fixed section and circumferentially of the shaft, and a plurality of die c arrier. v

4. In a can stamping mechanism, the combination of apair of die carriers, a die on each of said carriers, means for bringing the dies carried by the adjustable section of saidsaid carriers to bring the die thereon into position to make an impression on the surface of acan in con unction with thedleon the other carrier, and means for adjusting the (lie on the rotating carrier both with respect to the die on the other carrierand circumi'ei'entially of its axis of rotation,

6. In a can stan'iping mechanism, a rotatable shaft, a plate'fixed on said shaft and having a slot therein, a die pad connected-to said plate, a die mounted on said die pad, and a cam .jou'rnaled in said pad with its camming surface in engagement with the wall of'the slot in said fixed plate, whereby the die pad may be adjusted with respect to said plate by rotation of said cam.

7 In a can stamping mechanism, a rotatable shaft, and a die carrier, said carrier comprising a plate fixed to said shaft and a die pad connected to said plate, one of said elements having a slot therein and a cam journaled in the other of said elements with its camming surface engaging the wall of said slot whereby said elements may be adjusted with respect'to one another by ro= tation of'said cam.

8. In a machine of the character described,

aguideway along which filled, open-ended cans are adapted to be fed, means for feeding said cans along said way, a portion of said guldcway being curved to feed the cans in a substantially circular path whereby centrit'ugal force will tend to displace a portion of the contents of the can, and vertically adjustable means overlying cans p'assing along said circular guideway and substantially closing the upper ends of said cans.

10. In a machine of the character described, a guideway along which filled, openended cans are adapted to be fed, means for feeding said cans along said Way, a portion of said guideway being curved to feed the cans in a substantially circular path whereby centrifugal force will tend to displace a portion of thecontents of the can, and detachable means overlying the circular portion of said guideway and substantially closing the upper ends of said cans, said last mentioned means being adjustable to permit cans of varying sive to pass along said guideway.

WILLIAM B. SMITH. 

